


autumn

by alluringpoehler



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M, Fluff, mentions of leslie's dad, somewhat leslie centered
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:38:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24481381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alluringpoehler/pseuds/alluringpoehler
Summary: Pawnee was always its best in Autumn. The leaves began to change colors, the chill began to settle, and school began.It was Leslie’s favorite season.Ever since she was little, she would go to the parks with her dad and they would have a picnic by their favorite tree. It was an annual thing, they would bring the same food and sit under the same tree and talk about what was going on in Leslie’s school life. She told him everything under that tree.Until he passed away.
Relationships: Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	autumn

**Author's Note:**

> prompt from @evansdotmandy

Pawnee was always its best in Autumn. The leaves began to change colors, the chill began to settle, and school began. 

It was Leslie’s favorite season.

Ever since she was little, she would go to the parks with her dad and they would have a picnic by their favorite tree. It was an annual thing, they would bring the same food and sit under the same tree and talk about what was going on in Leslie’s school life. She told him everything under that tree.

Until he passed away.

Leslie still went to that tree on the same day each year and would sit and write in her journal. She would write everything down that she would tell him if she could. Everything from the new binders she got, the boy she met in her history class, and her running for Student Body President.

Even when it wasn’t the right day, Leslie still found herself under the tree during the fall season. Leslie always seemed to miss her father the most when it came to this time and the tree was the only thing that seemed to comfort her.

The tree being in the park was the reason Leslie began working in the Parks Department in the first place. It seemed to bring her closer to her dad, being able to run the parks that she used to play at with him. Okay, not _run_ _the parks_ but she got to help manage them and help fathers and daughters do what she still wished that she could.

…

A few years had passed and the opportunity had arisen to bring back the Harvest Festival. The last Harvest Festival was in 1987. Leslie had gone to it every single year as a child and even tried to save it when it ended. The festival had always reminded her of her dad and she went to it the two years after he passed, still trying to hold onto something.

When it got canceled she had cried for days, wishing there was something that she could do. She ran petitions all over town, but nothing ever got done. She was _heartbroken_.

Now, with the Parks Department at stake, this was her best option. She could bring real change back to Pawnee. She would finally get to do something with the ideas she had when she was twelve and make them effective. The last festival had introduced Li’l’ Sebastian and she could probably even bring him back.

There was a lot of planning to do and even though she hated Ben when he first came to Pawnee, she trusted that he could help her make this work.

…

The Harvest Festival was a success. Even though Leslie would never admit it, she worked so hard and it paid off. During the process, she would find herself sneaking off to the tree to talk to her dad. She was journaling everything now and wrote down so much that she wished she could tell him.

_I really like Ben. Sure he was a jerk at first, but he’s helped me accomplish so much. I really hope I get to kiss his cute face someday._

_I miss you._

_Love, Leslie_

…

When Ben and Leslie started dating, she had told him about the tree. She never had told anyone about it before, only wanting to keep it to herself, but she wanted to let Ben on in her life that he’d never known. 

During the fall season, Ben would take her on picnics by the same tree. He always seemed nonchalant about it, but she knew what he was doing. He always packed her journal and the same foods that she would eat with her dad.

The first time Ben had done it, she cried. No one had ever done something like this for her and the last picnic she went to she was broken up with. Ben always exceeded her expectations and she loved him so much for it.

…

She and Ben had watched many Harvest Festivals pass through over the years they were together, most of them happening due to them.

One of the happiest Harvest Festivals was when Ben and Leslie got to go to it as _parents_. Their triplets were only seven-months-old but they were so excited to bring them to something that helped get them together in the first place.

Ben and Leslie brought the triplets to Harvest Festival every year and once they got a little older, they brought them to the tree. Leslie wouldn’t explain it until they were older, so instead, they sat down and had a picnic. The very same picnic that she had with her dad, by herself, and with Ben, she now got to have with Ben _and_ her three wonderful children.

This spot was something she would cherish forever and is the main reason why she got to where she was. It’s what pushed her into Parks and Rec, it’s why she met Ben, and why she has her little monsters. This time where she pulled out her journal she dated it and wrote two simple words:

_Thank you._


End file.
